I am part of a Re-enacting group that portrays Knights Hospitaller from 11th C. - 15th C. Our primary period is 1250's, and our group has be told by our preceptor that we aren't allowed to wear rope belts to keep our cappa's & tabards up; instead we have to use our utility belt, even when fielding.
So my question is this; Can you find - Any - Fact / evidence that the Knights of Saint John (Hospitaller) did indeed wear a rope belt. As they are often depicted as such in pictures, but our preceptor can't find any evidence they even wore it. Thanks for your help.
There is no absolute standard of garb for any of the militant orders - or any military - in the Middle Ages. A real Hospitaller would smack both you and your "preceptor" upside the head and tell you to worry more about God and less about your clothes.
Here is a papal letter from Honorius III in 1222 telling the Master of the Templars precisely that.